With increasing availability of 'easy to use' commercial CFD packages and research oriented CFD codes, students and working professionals who use these CFD software tools, don't have a clear idea about the mathematics or theoretical background behind them. 'Fundamentals of CFD' course sheds light on the governing physical equations, and how the fluid flow problems are solved on computers using numerical methods, which is backbone of any CFD code.

Course Preview

In this lesson we will first see what fluid Flow is and fundamental terminologies related to fluid dynamics. Historically fluid flow has been studied by experimental and theoretical methods. We will have an overview of these methods in this lesson. Simulation is also now considered to be a reliable method to study fluid flow and allied phenomenon. We will see why this is so. In the end we will have a comparison between experimental and simulation study methods.

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Introduction to CFD

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This lesson will be your first exposure to CFD in the course. The objective of this lesson is to show you why we need to study fluid dynamics and how CFD is an interesting and efficient tool to study fluid dynamics. The lesson will also tell you how and where CFD is applied for design. It will provide you with an introduction to the process of CFD analysis. It will also highlight benefits and limitations of CFD as a design tool.

CFD Equations and Numerical Solution

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This lesson will start with a review of mathematical equations which govern fluid flow and heat transfer. Then you will be introduced to ordinary differential equations and partial differential equations and the generalized form of Navier stokes equations. You will know how the Navier Stokes equations are modified or enhanced for solving turbulent flows, reactions as well as particulate flows. We will see an overview of the finite difference and finite volume method. At the end we will also see what discretization means.

Fundamentals of Finite Volume method

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CFD is not magic and CFD software is not a black box. There is physics, mathematics and numerical methods behind CFD. In this lesson we will see how the Navier Stokes equations are converted into mathematical formulations using the finite volume methods. The lesson will introduce you to the finite volume method. Then you will be taught how to convert the partial differential equations to linear algebraic equations. We will discuss formulations which are used to apply finite volume methods for steady state flow and heat transfer problems.

Specification by example:

Type

Type

Premium

Level

Level

Beginner

Overview

If you are on this course page and reading this, then probably you might have already heard about CFD and know what the acronym CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) stands for. But, as rightly said by Richard Feynman ‘knowing the name of something is entirely different from actually knowing the thing’.

Working professionals, who use commercial CFD software frequently to complete their project work, often refer to user’s manual or tutorial guide, to make a choice of numerical technique, or turbulence model, or the type of boundary condition to apply. But most of the tutorial guides let them down, by not providing sufficient explanation of the theoretical background and justification for using a particular numerical scheme for the given problem. Sometimes this can give rise to questions like: why we need grid? Or why there is a variety of spatial discretization for gradient and variable interpolation?

Vast numbers of commercial packages are available in the market. But many times students in the research domain attempt to write a new CFD code from scratch or modify an existing code in order to have a tailor made code for their problem.

So, knowing the fundamentals of CFD becomes very important in the process of using CFD as a tool for design analysis. 'Fundamentals of CFD' course provides an introduction to the governing equations of fluid flows, and the numerical methods developed for solving flow problems on computers, the computational aspects of fluid dynamics.

Recommended background

The course doesn’t demand any degree from a specific branch of engineering. But mostly students from Mechanical/Aerospace/Chemical or Automobile background are seen to subscribe for this course. A graduate level course in fluid mechanics and heat transfer would be an added advantage. Knowledge of solving Partial Differential Equations would give an edge in learning. The course is aimed at graduate students, researchers, engineers and physicists involved in fluid computations. It is designed to be equally useful to beginners and experts.

Your Learning

The objective of the course is to provide an overview of the most common numerical techniques to solve the partial differential equations, with a focus on Finite Difference Method and Finite Volume Method. After successful completion of this course, you will be in a position to convert a given Partial Differential Equation (differential and integral forms) into linear algebraic form using FDM and FVM. Also you will understand the requirement of domain discretization or computational grid.

Syllabus

Content

The course mainly contains video lessons to learn and enhance their CFD knowledge. As this is a theoretical course, there are no video demos or tutorials. Currently there are no unit tests or assignments for this course.

Course Format

All the course video lessons are split into two smaller videos of approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Considering the density of concepts covered in each video lesson and the required background study that you need to do in order to understand each concept, the calculated course duration is 2 weeks.

Course Syllabus

The complete course syllabus is divided into 4 lessons. Each lesson is designed to provide a sound foundation of the necessary principles required for the subsequent lessons. So, it is recommended that you do not move to the next lesson until all the concepts of the present lesson are well understood.

Lesson 1: Study of Fluid flows

Have you ever observed common fluid flow phenomenon around you? Have you ever wondered about the physics behind such fluid flows? Whether they can be described by using mathematics and who discovered such mathematical equations of fluid flows? Fluid flow is present everywhere. The aim of this lesson is to show you how every phenomenon around us involves fluid flow. The lesson will present a discussion on the three fundamental methods used to study fluid flow. In the end you will also understand where simulation finds its place as a tool to study fluid flow and allied phenomenon.

Lesson 2: Introduction to CFD

Assuming that most of the participants are new to the topic of CFD, the first lesson is designed as an introduction to CFD. CFD is a distinct field of simulation sciences which is based on physics and mathematical equations. Hence our first lesson is designed in order to provide you a complete understanding of overall concept of CFD. This lesson provides the basics of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) without going into details of the mathematics or numerical algorithms. By the end of this lesson you will have a clear understanding of CFD and terms like Design, Modeling and Simulation and CFD. You will also realize that CFD is very interesting and highly useful design tool.

Lesson 3: CFD Equations and Numerical Solution

We believe that every participant of our course, who uses CFD software, should also be aware of what is happening behind the software. Behind the software there are physics equations solved using numerical methods. This lesson is design in a way that you will get a basic understanding of the generalized CFD equations and the numerical methods that are used to solve these equations. The objective of this lesson is to refresh the knowledge of mathematical equations which govern fluid flow and heat transfer and also to provide an overview of the additional equations that are solved in CFD. By the end of this lesson you will be familiar with Navier Stokes equations and the difference between exact and numerical solution of differential Equations.

Lesson 4: Fundamentals of Finite Volume method

One of the most commonly used algorithms to convert the partial differential equation to algebraic equations is the Finite Volume Method. Hence it is critical to understand the finite volume method. In this lesson we will see how the Navier Stokes equations are converted into mathematical formulations using the finite volume methods. This lesson would explain how to convert the integral form of conservation equations into linear algebraic equations, using Finite Volume Method. By the end of this lesson you will have a clear understanding of the Finite Volume Method.

Notes & Certificate

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Course Notes

LearnCAx course notes is must to have if you are enrolling and attending the course. These hard copy notes will be useful during your learning as well as for your future reference. These notes are the prints of all the lectures covered in the course. You can buy the course notes of from PREMIUM FEATURE section above.

Once you buy the course notes, it will be delivered to you maximum within 15 working days. It is highly recommended that you get the notes before you start attending the course. These notes can be then used during your course and making learning more effective.

Course Certificate

LearnCAx is well known brand in CFD education. Its certificate is now globally recognized and carries a great value during the job search. Participation certificate is Level 1 certificate you can buy from PREMIUM FEATURE section above. The hard copy certificate will be delivered to you once you complete the course. After course completion, the course tutor checks the overall time spent on each lesson, the performance in various tests and then issues a certificate. LearnCAx course certificate is a must have proof of your attendance to the course and will give edge over others during recruitment process.

FAQ

FAQs

1. I don’t have an engineering background. Can I take this course?

Although this course doesn’t demand any degree from a specific branch of engineering, a graduate level course in fluid mechanics, mathematics & heat transfer would be preferred.

2. How much time needed to complete the course?

The course is available all the time. To start this course you need to buy the course. After this our executive will contact you and guide you through further process in order to activate your course. The course usually gets activated within 1 to 2 working days once all processing is completed. Considering difficulty level, understanding capacity and necessary extra reading, on average, we expect this course to be finished in 2 weeks.

3. Is this course only for people who have used CFD software?

No. This course is for all of you who want to know more about the subject. So, it’s not necessary that you have exposure to CFD software available in the market.As a matter of fact this course can be a head start to learn new CFD software. Also you can apply these concepts to create your own CFD code.

4. Do I need any CFD software access or programming language?

No. This is complete theoretical course. So you don’t need any CFD software or programming software package installed on your computer

5. How difficult is this course?

The course is designed for beginners and we believe that it’s easy for everyone.

6. I have few queries related to work I am doing. Can I contact you?

As the course is designed for beginners, so you might have specific questions. Feel free to ask those questions using the link “Ask a Question” given on course page.

7. What next learning you suggest once this course is completed?

If you are good at any programming language or you can use MATLAB software to write your own problem specific CFD code using FDM or FVM formulation of governing equations.

Reviews

Last Reviews

meishannandeTuesday, 09 December 2014

The overall course content and quality of tutors,videos and slides was very good.This is the best intro you can get w.r.t to CFD. But I personally feel that some preliminary practical simulations using commercial codes should be give.In all it was great!!.I look forward to do more advanced courses from LearnCAx.

Sabin TimalsenaSunday, 08 June 2014

As a final year student of Mechanical engineering, CFD was totally new subject for me. The course gives a brief insight of the subject. Perfect course to start with before learning any CFD software.

Raghu DevSunday, 01 June 2014

This is an excellent course on CFD fundamentals. The course covers all the necessary knowledge required to start learning CFD.

Shankar DesaiSaturday, 31 May 2014

Course content is very impressive. Tutor cleared all my non sense doubts. I am very happy with the learning experience. Thank you LearnCAx.

Bharat HablaniThursday, 24 April 2014

It was my first course with LearnCAx. The overall experience was very good. This course is highly recommended for beginners.

Dhanashree BurdeWednesday, 16 April 2014

Before doing this course I was very afraid of this subject 'CFD'. But now I am very confident with the subject. This course really helped me to build my foundation in CFD.